1: Earlier this week, we looked at how General Charles De Gaulle, one man with courage, made a majority. “It’s inspiring,” writes Ryan Holiday…
“What keeps you up at night?” Marine Corps General James Mattis was once asked by a television reporter, Ryan Holiday recounts in Courage is…
In June 1944, more than two million Allied troops landed in France. By August, Paris was liberated. “It had been four long years in…
1: On June 14th, Hitler’s Nazi troops marched into Paris. As France fell to Germany, “it was overrun not just by tanks but by…
Getting better at getting better is what Rise With Drew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and…
Conflict arises because one or both people are not getting their needs met, Dr. Daniel Friedland tells us in his wonderful book Leading Well…
1: Eric and his son Tony had an awful relationship. Eric’s wife had left the family when Tony was eleven years old. The young…
1: Dr. Mike noticed something was changing with his patients. As a pediatrician, he had a busy, demanding schedule. “I have noticed,” he emailed…
The year was 1848. One of the most momentous discoveries about the part of the brain called the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) was about to…
Getting better at getting better is what Rise With Drew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and…
1: Researchers examined towns that are similar in every way. Except where they are located. The towns are all in the same time zone. …
1: Initial reports blamed the inebriated captain of the Exxon Valdez for running the oil tanker aground on the Bligh Reef in Alaska on…
Yesterday, we looked at the impact early school start times have on academic performance and teenage auto fatalities. Today we explore the impact on…
1: The start time for more than 80 percent of public high schools in the United States is 8:15 a.m. or earlier. In fact, nearly…
“A moment came that stopped me on a dime,” Tim McGraw sings in “Live Like You Were Dying.” That moment for me was early…
“Most people spend the majority—if not the entirety—of their lives putting off the things that matter most,” write Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy in…
Eighty-four percent of our creative insights don’t happen while we are at work. 1: Instead, they happen while we’re at home or driving or…
Our default setting as human beings is “How.” When an opportunity or challenge arises, we typically ask, “How do I do this?” 1: The…
Richie Norton was 16-years-old. Like many teenagers, he wanted to make some money and spend it how he wanted. 1: “Although Richie came from…
“The best day to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best day is today.” Q1 is in the books. Rearview mirror,…
The world today has been described as “VUCA.” Which stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. It’s easy to get triggered, to feel threatened,…
1: Because: What gets measured gets done. Vision. Strategy. Implementation. Results. Or, VSIR. These four integrated elements are the essential ingredients of living a…
That’s where we start. That’s the question we ask. 1: Our vision is an image of an ideal future. It transcends and includes our…
1: Gallup researchers have calculated a national stress index based on a survey of more than 125,000 people from 121 countries. The analysts ask…
1: 1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and…
The answer may be to restrict time in bed, perhaps to just six hours of sleep, writes Dr. Matthew Walker in Why We Sleep. …
1: In the past month, nearly 10 million Americans have swallowed some type of sleeping aid. This reality is unfortunate and dangerous, writes sleep…
1: Many people swear by a bath before bedtime. We believe we fall asleep faster because we feel “toasty and warm to the core,” writes…
1: The date was September 4th, 1882. The world was about to change forever. At 257 Pearl Street, not far from the Brooklyn Bridge, Thomas…
The power of story has transformed PCI . With the launch of StoryCause, we dedicate ourselves to allowing story to transform nonprofit organizations. Our…
1: This week, we’ve been exploring takeaways from Esther Choy and her book Let the Story Do the Work: The Art of Storytelling for…
1: Esther Choy was excited about moving into a new house and hired an interior designer. Unfortunately, there was a disconnect between them, she…
1: “Stabilize the patient” is good advice in the Emergency Room and in any situation where our goal is to persuade a person or…
1: As business professionals, we’ve been trained how to prove our point. To win the day, we are taught to find the right data…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
1: Dan Sullivan is the primary author of Who Not How. And yet, he didn’t write one word of the book. “He didn’t even…
1: Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton was once asked by a journalist how much of the material in his books made it into the…
1: Are we keeping our goals so small so we can accomplish them on our own? ask Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy in Who…
1: The year was 1987. Michael Jordan was establishing himself as one of the best players in the National Basketball Association, if not the best. …
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
1: The two most feared diseases in the modern world are dementia and cancer. “Both are related to inadequate sleep,” writes Matthew Walker in Why…
1: How many times have we heard or said those unfortunate words? It might be the unfolding tragedy when “a soldier irrationally responds to…
More than 2 million people will fall asleep this week in the United States while driving their motor vehicle, writes Matthew Walker in Why We…
Our ability to concentrate is directly impacted by even the smallest amount of sleep deprivation, Matthew Walker observes in his powerful book, Why We…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
Imagine we are in a movie theater. The people in the row behind us are talking to each other. Or, perhaps the person next…
Question: Why do party guests often end up hanging out in the kitchen? Answer: We humans don’t like big, open spaces. We “instinctively seek…
1: The famed photographer Platon’s signature style is to shoot his subjects so close we can see their pores. “Platon has photographed every sitting…
1: The two companies had been negotiating for more than a year. The issues were complex, but the $20 billion merger between Alcatel and Lucent…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
1: Imagine a brand new manager. Someone has just been promoted and is now someone else’s boss. The person may look the same, but…
1: Danny Meyer is a raving fan of servant leadership. He believes it is a crucial ingredient for tapping into the resourcefulness and imagination…
1: “Opening this new restaurant might be the worst mistake I’ve ever made,” Danny Meyer confessed to Stanley Marcus, the legendary long-time leader of…
1: Danny Meyer was struggling. Twenty-seven years old, he had just opened his first restaurant in New York City. He sensed he was making…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
1: According to legend, a Nordstrom salesperson gladly gave a customer a refund on a set of automobile tires, even though Nordstrom has never…
1: Let’s travel back in time to the 1950s. Imagine being in the middle of the hustle-and-bustle of the New York City wholesale shoe market. A…
“Our frontline people don’t work for us; we work for them. Our job is to support them in their job.” —James F. Nordstrom, former…
1: The woman who appeared in the Nordstrom shoe department had an unusual request. Would they sell her one shoe? She was on crutches…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
1: Tony Dungy couldn’t win the big game. That was the rap. In 1996, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired Tony as their head coach.…
1: The United States is one of the wealthiest countries on earth. Yet, in the 1960s and 1970s, the country had higher infant mortality rates…
Yesterday, we looked at how Michael Phelps focused on a few core or “keystone” habits that impacted all other areas of his life. Attending…
1: August 8, 2008. Beijing, China. Summer Olympics. Men’s final for the 200-meter butterfly. Michael Phelps knew something was wrong as soon as he hit the water. “There…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
1: Telling a great story is as simple as 1, 2, 3. Or, better yet, Act I, II, and III, Esther Choy writes in…
The big day has arrived. The job interview we want to nail. Or, the hard-to-get meeting with the big prospect. Or, maybe a first date with someone…
1: “At the heart of leadership lies persuasion. At the heart of persuasion lies storytelling,” Esther Choy writes in Let the Story Do the Work:…
Esther Choy was one of six admissions officers at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, one of the top MBA programs in…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
Is there a magic formula for creating chemistry during a meeting, event, or conference? The short answer? No. And, yes, Priya Parker writes in…
1: In May 2014, when Dean Baquet took over as the executive editor of The New York Times, he inherited an almost seventy-year-old tradition…
1: How might we re-imagine how our courts work? That’s precisely what the Red Hook Community Justice Center, located in Brooklyn, New York, set…
1: Life is about relationships. We spend our personal and professional lives gathering with others. “And we spend much of that time in uninspiring,…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
Reactive leaders focus on protecting their egos by being overly controlling. Or by being overly compliant. “In the protecting dimension, leaders take ‘flight’ by…
1: “Fight or flight” or “Pause and plan”? As leaders and in life, how we show up is a factor of which part of…
1: Are we showing up as high-performance leaders? Or low-performance leaders? The answer, according to Dr. Danny Friedland, has to do with which part of…
PCI is a servant leadership organization. We have been practicing servant leadership for more than 20 years. Dr. Danny Friedland believed there is a…
1: The year was 1962. The United States was losing the space race with the Soviet Union. In 1957, the Soviets had successfully launched…
1: Focus. Focus. Focus. This week we’ve been exploring “The Nordstrom Way,” a single-minded focus on the customer and providing outstanding service every day, one customer…
1: Among the paperwork new Nordstrom associates receive on their first day of work is a single notecard entitled “Employee Handbook.” “Our One Rule:…
1: “We can hire nice people and teach them to sell, but we can’t hire salespeople and teach them to be nice. We believe in…
1: Imagine standing at a customer service counter. We have expectations. A good product. A fair price. If there’s an issue, it will be taken care of quickly. …
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
Consider this: we need less than a third of the land to generate the same amount of food today vs. 50 years ago. “Transgenic…
1: The world has reached “peak farmland,” the environmental scientist Jesse Ausubel has estimated. We may never again need as much as we use…
1: “Vulnerability to famine appears to have been virtually eradicated” was not supposed to happen. In 1798 Thomas Malthus famously wrote about the recurring…
1: We certainly have our challenges. We are dealing with a deadly pandemic and with second and third-order effects of that pandemic, including an…
Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary organizations. On…
Aristotle tells us: To flourish as human beings, we need targets. We need goals. This week we’re reviewing some of the key lessons from…
So, what exactly is courage? Is it the absence of fear? No, philosopher Brian Johnson tells us. It’s feeling the fear… And then getting…
If Grit author Angela Duckworth were to get a tattoo, these are the words it would say. Grit, Angela tells us, is a combination of an intense…
Brian Johnson has read and distilled the key learnings from over 500 books as part of his Philosopher’s Notes. His rule #1? Expect obstacles…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
1: Today’s the day. The new hire we are all excited about starts today. We’ve used our high standards to hire what renowned restaurateur…
1: High standards? Sure. But the team has been short a person for three weeks. Everyone is working extra hours to get the…
1: When renowned restaurateur Danny Meyer walks into one of his eighteen New York City restaurants, there is one particular thing that brings him…
1: Imagine dining at an expensive restaurant. “Everything is delivered perfectly, cleared perfectly, decanted perfectly,” writes Danny Meyer in Setting the Table: The Transforming Power…
1: Game time. A small art museum in Cincinnati, Ohio was preparing to launch a capital campaign. To succeed, they would need several major…
1: In the early 1980s, Harley-Davidson, the once-iconic motorcycle company, had hit rock bottom. It was “an operation that looked like it was sinking…
1: Perhaps you have a friend like Jane. “She is funny and social, a talker who uses her eyes, face, hands, and voice to…
It is the holiday season. This week many of us will have the opportunity to reconnect with family and friends we don’t get to…
1: The phone rang around midnight as Martin Luther King Jr. was getting ready for bed. It was January 27th, 1956, “the most important…
1: The greatest American civil rights leader was at first an unwilling one. In September 1954, Martin Luther King Jr. was 25 years old.…
1: Following their defeat in Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee and his Confederate Army retreated toward the refuge of Virginia. “At that moment…
1: Eleven days after the Union victory at Gettysburg and ten days after General Ulysses S. Grant’s crucial triumph at Vicksburg, Abraham Lincoln suffered…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
1: In early June of 1944, the success or failure of the D-Day invasion rested on the shoulders of Dwight D. Eisenhower, write Raymond…
1: Dwight Eisenhower was furious. D-Day was only weeks away. As the Supreme Commander of the Allied invasion of Europe, Ike was under tremendous…
1: Five days after Pearl Harbor, Dwight D. Eisenhower received orders to report immediately to the War Department in Washington, D.C. Stationed in San…
The workplace engagement results were back. The consultant had conducted thousands of these surveys. “Our employees had the lowest levels of trust he had…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
1: How do we “develop a real plan for a better life?” Trent Hamm tells us we start by selecting the areas of our…
1: This week, we are exploring a goal-setting methodology from Trent Hamm called “Developing a Real Plan for a Better Life.” Yesterday, we looked…
1: That’s the opportunity. How? By setting powerful 2022 goals and then achieving those goals through a simple process designed to optimize follow-through. Over…
“If you don’t know where you are going, you might not like were you end up,” David Bach tells us. The calendar is getting…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
After 15 years of speaking and more than 1,500 presentations, Dr. Daniel Friedland experienced something he had never experienced before. Danny was in San…
1: Super Bowl XLIX. Closing seconds… The Seattle Seahawks have the ball on the one-yard line. All they need to do is punch it…
1: Recognizing our reactivity is step one. The crucial step two? Managing our reactivity. In Leading Well from Within, Dr. Daniel Friedland* suggests we…
1: Can we get better at handling stress and self-doubt? The short answer? Yes. Life comes at us fast. It’s a VUCA world out…
1: VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. That’s our world. There are two ways we can show up. Option one? A reactive…
Dr. Daniel Friedland arrived at the board meeting feeling raw and out-of-sorts after an argument with his teenage son. Danny* was the board chair…
My friend, mentor, and coach Danny Friedland passed away last month after a year-long battle with brain cancer. There was a moving memorial service…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
1: Harvard Professor and author Steven Pinker has been asked some strange questions. Over the past several decades, he has delivered public lectures on language,…
1: Yesterday, we looked at the incredulous reaction to Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of our Nature, his book that documented with data the dramatic decline…
1: Life is getting better. Way better. Yesterday, we explored the idea that the world has made spectacular progress in every single measure of…
1: What is human progress? Measuring it sounds complicated. “You might think that the question is so subjective and culturally relative as to be…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
1: This week we’ve been exploring acclaimed restaurateur Danny Meyer’s near obsession with hospitality. He also is an entrepreneur “addicted to volume,” he writes in…
1: “From the moment I first went into business, I was far more focused on excellence and hospitality than on profitability,” writes acclaimed restaurateur Danny…
That is one of the most important and powerful questions we can ask in business. 1: Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics,…
1: World renowned restaurateur Danny Meyer had just opened up his new restaurant Blue Smoke in New York City. As he was walking around,…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
1: “Conventional wisdom held that the best way for people to lose weight was to radically alter their lives,” Charles Duhigg writes in The…
1: “You can’t order people to change. That’s not how the brain works,” Paul O’Neill reflected. As the new CEO, his goal was audacious:…
1: The telephone rang in the middle of the night. Paul O’Neill awoke in an instant. He was the new CEO of Alcoa, the largest……
1: A group of Wall Street investors and stock analysts gathered in the ballroom of a swanky New York City hotel. “They were there…
1: In 1962, Milton Friedman famously wrote, “there is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed…
1: “This new compensation plan is terrible,” said one of the mid-level managers. “It will drive our best salespeople away,” write Jocko Willink and…
1: “In order to convince and inspire others to follow and accomplish a mission, a leader must be a true believer in the mission,”…
1: “This makes no sense at all,” Jocko Willink writes in Extreme Ownership. The mission statement from higher command was clear. His elite Navy…
1: “Some may wonder how Navy SEAL combat leadership principles translate outside the military realm to leading any team in any capacity,” Jocko Willink…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
1: The margin of victory in professional athletics is often slight. In the Olympics, the difference between the gold medal winner and the last-place…
1: Dr. Matthew Walker had just finished delivering a public lecture on sleep when a distinguished-looking gentleman dressed in a tweed suit jacket approached the…
1: Shakespeare was right. Writing in Macbeth, he tells us sleep is “the chief nourisher in life’s feast.” Four hundred years later, the science…
1: “Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer. It enhances your memory and makes you more creative. It makes…
Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary organizations. …
New York state began requiring hospitals to post death rates from coronary artery bypass surgeries. Over the next four years, deaths from heart surgery…
Question: If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many pictures is a video worth? A lot. We live in a video world. More…
Mark Burnett arrived in Los Angeles on October 18, 1982 with no job, no place to live, and less than $300. “A working-class kid…
1: Every time Sara Blakely put on white pants that hung in her closet, she didn’t like what she saw in the mirror. Traditional women’s…
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard. Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Michael Eisner and Frank Wells. Many uber-successful organizations have…
1: This week we’ve been exploring the incredible medical advances against infectious diseases and the incredible increase in human health. Yesterday we looked at…
1: From Wikipedia: “Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor.” Yes, “smallpox was.” “The…
1: On April 12, 1955, a team of scientists declared Jonas Salk’s vaccine against polio, a disease which killed thousands each year, paralyzed President…
1: Many people believe we live in the “worst of times.” The data shows otherwise. Today we continue our exploration of the many and momentous…
Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary organizations. On…
Restaurateur Danny Meyer opened Union Square Cafe in New York City when he was just 27 years old. It was his first restaurant. He had invested…
1: “Location, location, location.” That was the advice then aspiring restaurateur Danny Meyer was given when selecting a space for his restaurant in New…
1: “When I first walk into any restaurant or any business,” acclaimed restauranteur Danny Meyer writes in his terrific book Setting the Table, “I can…
1: We never know when inspiration will strike or where it will come from. “I can’t believe I’m doing this LSAT thing tomorrow. I don’t…
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary…
1: The year was 1934. One of the largest and most successful attempts at wide-scale habit change was about to begin. Bill Wilson, a thirty-nine…
1: Mandy walked into the counselling center at Mississippi State University. She was 24 years old. For as long as she could remember, she had bitten…
1: In the year 2002, researchers at New Mexico State University set out to figure out why people exercise consistently. They studied 266 people…
1: Proctor & Gamble, one of the largest consumer goods firms in the world, was convinced their promising new product Febreze was going to…
Last Friday afternoon I moderated a panel discussion on Zoom with four of our Black leaders at PCI. 208 of our colleagues joined in,…
1: In the spring of 2006, when Navy SEAL Task Unit Bruiser arrived in Ramadi, it was the deadly epicenter of the Iraqi insurgency. …
1: It was night three of the infamous Hell Week of SEAL training. The Navy SEAL candidates were exhausted. They had slept less than one…
1: Yesterday, we analyzed a “blue-on-blue” or friendly fire incident that happened in 2006 in Ramadi, the deadly epicenter of the Iraqi insurgency, involving Navy…
1: “Pushing open the heavy armored door of my vehicle, I stepped out onto the street. I had a gut feeling that something was…
Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary organizations. On…
1: Pope Francis has spoken to some of the largest audiences in history. In July 2013, he spoke to more than 3 million people on…
1: The date was June 4, 1940. Nazi Germany was on the verge of victory over France. The situation was desperate. Prime Minister Winston Churchill had to…
“Show me an MBA and your sales numbers, that’s fine. But tell me a great story about how you got started and your vision, and…
1: Yesterday we launched a brand new offering called Running Is Life. We’ve been working on it for seven months. In my experience, doing something…
1: Many of us view our sweaty palms, our need for moral support, or our rumination after a stressful experience as excessive “stress symptoms.” Perhaps we…
1: Reva and her husband, Lakshman, took Kelly McGonigal’s New Science of Stress course together. After the last class, they flew to Australia to see…
1: Imagine participating in a stressful group task where we compete with strangers in a mock job interview and tests of cognitive ability. The study…
1: Imagine participating in a stressful group task where we compete with strangers in a mock job interview and tests of cognitive ability. The study…
1: We’ve got it all wrong. We’ve been taught that stress is bad for us. This belief is harmful, Kelly McGonigal argues in The…
1: What gets measured gets done. Last Friday we looked at the benefits of radical transparency. At PCI, we are big believers in metrics. …
We are living longer. A lot longer. Worldwide, the average lifespan is now 71.6 years. Infant mortality is down. Way down. Everywhere across the…
1: Consider this fact: Well into the 19th century, in Sweden, one of the world’s wealthiest countries, between a quarter and a third of…
1: Quick question: What do you think is the life expectancy for the average person alive in the world today? “Bear in mind,” Steven…
Many people are convinced we live in the worst of times. Writing in 2018, Harvard Professor and Enlightenment Now author Steven Pinker wrote: “At the…
1: At PCI, transparency is the default setting. We share the prior day’s revenue, contract signings, project starts, and Net Promoter Score (NPS) every…
1: We think the choices we make each day are the result of well-considered decisions. The science tells us otherwise. “A Duke University researcher found that…
1: It was the early 1990s. Scientists surgically positioned what looked like “a small joystick and dozens of wires” into the skulls of a…
1: The year was 2004, the early days of the Iraqi War. Riots were occurring in Kufa, a small city 90 miles south of Baghdad. …
1: Lisa Allen was thirty-four years old. She had struggled with obesity since she was a child. Lisa started smoking and drinking at sixteen. She…
1: It was the late 1980’s. Times were tough in Texas. The price of oil had fallen more than 50 percent. Banks were failing. …
1: Adam Levine struggled in school. He “found it impossible to sit still, stay focused, or finish his schoolwork. He was hyperactive and impulsive,”…
1: One of the biggest mistakes we make as presenters is being overly complicated and sharing too much information. “Any fool can make something…
1: Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk has been viewed over 71 million times making it the most viewed talk in TED’s 30-year history. Wow.…
1: A standing ovation following a TED talk is a rare occurrence. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield had the TED audience on their feet after…
NotTheBigCompany. No spaces. That’s the phrase we use to define our workplace culture at PCI. It’s our business philosophy. Even how we live our lives.…
1: Do we believe all meaningful problems are deeply rooted and difficult to change.” David Yeager, a mindset researcher at the University of Texas…
1: Two-thirds of the housekeepers in Stanford Professor Alia Crum’s study believed they weren’t exercising regularly. One-third said they got no exercise at all. “Their…
1: Do people who have a positive attitude about aging live longer? The short answer? Yes. More than seven years longer, according to researchers at…
1: Many people believe they are the only ones who feel like they don’t fit in. “Feeling like you don’t belong can change how…
Monday through Thursday we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary organizations. On Friday, I share something we are doing at PCI in our…
Why does it matter that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita has gone up so dramatically? After stagnating at around $500 for thousands of…
This week we are exploring the reasons behind the incredible drop in worldwide extreme poverty: from 90% in 1800 at the beginning of the…
“In 1976,” Steven Radelet writes, “Mao single-handedly and dramatically changed the direction of global poverty with one simple act: “He died.” Yesterday, we looked…
1: Imagine this headline: Number of People in Extreme Poverty fell by 137,000 yesterday. Actually, the newspapers could have run that headline every day…
1: One of Ritz-Carlton’s strategies to engage their workforce is to create a memorable first day at work . Same for us at PCI. …
Select. Develop. Engage. These words are at the heart of Ritz-Carlton’s three people processes which result in a powerful, positive workplace culture where team members…
This week we are exploring “the system behind the smiles”: three key “people processes” Ritz-Carlton uses to create world-class guest experiences. These best practices were…
1: How does Ritz-Carlton consistently deliver world-class customer service across more than 100 luxury properties and more than 40,000 staffers? How does the firm…
In past weeks, we’ve explored Ritz-Carlton’s commitment to delivering “memorable customer service.” RWD, RWD, RWD. This week we will explore “the system behind the…
Holding an action-packed, upbeat, informative quarterly “All-Hands” meeting is a key driver of building an inspired and engaging workplace culture. The quarterly rhythm is…
Elon Musk is wicked smart. “But when he explains technology to consumers he uses language even a sixth-grader can read,” observes Carmine Gallo in…
It’s not what we think. “Short words are best,” said Sir Winston. “The shorter words of a language are usually the more ancient,” Winston…
Winston Churchill was 29 years old. He was a newly elected representative to the House of Commons. The year was 1911. His talk started off…
1: The words “I have a dream” were not in the original copy of Martin Luther King’s speech. “The sequence that made Martin Luther…
Yesterday, we looked at the powerful benefits of writing about our values. Let’s put this theory into action. When? Right now. This will take…
Back in the 1990s a group of Stanford students agreed to keep journals over the winter break. “Some were asked to write about their…
1: Scientist Alia Crum has an unusual track record of high-profile findings. “By changing how people think about an experience, she can change what’s happening…
1: “In the late 1990s, an unusual experiment took place in the trauma center of an Akron, Ohio, hospital,” Kelly McGonigal writes in her…
Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday we explore ideas from authors and thought leaders. On Friday, I…
Today we take it for granted if we want some milk, we can walk into a convenience store and it will be waiting for…
Today, most discussions about poverty involve who is to blame for it, observes Steven Pinker in Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. This…
1: “Only twice in the last ten thousand years has something happened that truly transformed all of humanity,” writes William Rosen in his book…
1: What are our assumptions about progress? Perhaps we assume progress over time looks like a nice smooth line upwards. That the world is slightly…
Turns out there aren’t that many ways. One way is to find a new idea and bring it inside the organization. That’s my hope…
Yesterday we looked at several elements of The Ritz Carlton Gold Standards. Today we turn to the final element: the firm’s “Service Values: I…
How does one of the world’s great brands deliver consistently memorable customer service? As we would imagine, there is nothing haphazard about their approach. They…
Ritz-Carlton does not hire people. It “selects” them. Words are important. What we call things matters. At Ritz-Carlton, they believe the word “hire” suggests a short-term…
Memorable customer service. That’s the stated goal at Ritz-Carlton. Not “good.” Certainly not “average.” Memorable. What is the question Ritz-Carlton staffers are challenged to ask themselves…
1: PCI is a sales organization. We love sales. For 100 years. My grandfather was a salesperson. My dad was a salesperson. I’m a…
1: “One day in 1966, two men met for drinks at the hotel’s bar. One was a Texas businessman; the other a chain-smoking, whiskey-swigging…
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou…
1: When Bobby Herrera was 17, he and his brother were on the team bus headed home after their basketball game. When the bus stopped…
1: “As the sun was setting over the Hudson River on a brisk October day two men stood on the terrace of a luxury…
“An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage,” former GE CEO Jack Welch tells us.…
1: What we’ve taught about stress is wrong, Kelly McGonigal argues in her terrific book The Upside of Stress. Despite what we’ve been taught…
1: It was 2008. The economy was in free fall. “The financial industry is a notoriously stressful place to work,” Kelly McGonigal writes in…
1: Imagine a job interview. An extra stressful job interview where the interviewer barks negative feedback no matter what we say or do. “Do…
1: What is the effect of showing smokers graphic warnings on cigarette packs? When doctors are asked this question, “In general, they believe that…
Monday through Thursday we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary organizations. On Friday, I share something we are doing at PCI in our…
At Ritz Carlton, they differentiate between three levels of service. There is the minimum level, essentially giving the guest what is expected. There is…
“Why do customers leave?” is part of the research conducted by the American Society for Quality. 9 percent choose to go with a competitor. …
1: Chris Hurn’s son couldn’t fall asleep. Their family had just returned from a vacation on Amelia Island, Florida. Joshie, the boy’s beloved stuffed…
Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about. Monday through Thursday we explore ideas from authors and thought leaders. On Friday, I…
1: Tuesday, October 9, 2012 started out like just another normal day. A 15-year old school girl boarded a rickety covered truck and three…
1: “Growing up in the hot Las Vegas desert, all I wanted was to be free,” so begins Amy Purdy’s story. The day after…
1: The year was 1983. Starbucks had four stores which sold only whole bean coffee beans and had no seating. Howard Schultz had recently been…
1: The year was 2003. Steve Jobs was about to reinvent the music industry. “He persuaded millions of music lovers that it was a…
Earlier this year, PCI made the decision not to return to our offices. We will continue to work virtually. We have office space in…
One of our challenges with stress is understanding exactly what it is. We use the term stress both to describe a traffic delay and…
In 1936, the Hungarian endocrinologist Hans Selye injected rats with a hormone from cow’s ovaries. Things did not go well. The lab rats developed bleeding…
1: The headline read: “A mother’s stress is passed on to her baby in the womb!” The message landed like a bomb. Kelly McGonigal’s…
1: In 1998, thirty thousand adults in the United States were asked a series of questions about stress. How much stress had they experienced…
The purpose of RiseWithDrew is simple: share one idea each day that we can put into action. The power is in the consistency. One idea we can…
“100,000 years ago, we started developing our language,” David JP Phillips says from the Tedx stage. “We started using storytelling to transfer knowledge from generation…
“Nine months have passed,” David JP Phillips begins. He sits in a chair on the Tedx stage. He speaks slowly. His voice is soft. “The…
David JP Phillips gets the call. He’s invited to come to Stockholm by a woman who represents one of the biggest training companies in Scandinavia. …
1: A group of enterprising entrepreneurs have gathered on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands. Legendary business icon Sir Richard Branson is their…
“People do not decide their future; they decide their habits and their habits decide their future,” says leadership guru John Maxwell. To experience better…
“People do not decide their future; they decide their habits and their habits decide their future,” says leadership guru John Maxwell. To experience better…
“People do not decide their future; they decide their habits and their habits decide their future,” says leadership guru John Maxwell. To experience better…
“People do not decide their future; they decide their habits and their habits decide their future,” says leadership guru John Maxwell. To experience better…
“People do not decide their future; they decide their habits and their habits decide their future,” says leadership guru John Maxwell. To experience better…
Charlie Munger has been called “one of the great minds of the 20th century.”He is Warren Buffet’s partner and co-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. Charlie…
“The basic axiom of clinical psychology reads, ‘If you could see the world the way I see it, you’d understand why I behave the…
“The three hallmarks of a great investment are superior returns, low risk, and long duration,” Peter Kaufman observes. “The whole world concentrates on category…
There a simple, two-word description that describes how everything in the world works, Peter Kaufman tells us. Mirrored reciprocity. “Your entire life… Every interaction you…
“You’re standing in front of an elevator. The doors open. And inside the elevator is one solitary stranger. You’ve never met this person before in…
When ego takes over, bad behavior typically ensues, writes Cy Wakeman in her book No Ego. Ego argues with reality. Ego wants to be seen…
Cy Wakeman believes leadership is not about motivating people or solving their problems or ordering people around. Leadership, Cy believes, is about inquiry. We…
In many organizations, leaders are expected to motivate people. To keep associates happy and engaged. To improve the morale of their team. Our concept…
Lisa was nervous. She was a brand new hire on Cy Wakeman’s team. The next day she was scheduled to train a group of union…
Cy Wakeman was a brand new manager. It was her first time managing a team. She was excited to attend her organization’s “boot camp…
Peter D. Kaufman understands dogs. “So when your dog is in the backyard and he goes to the fence between your house and the…
“I know what everybody in the world is looking for,” says Peter D. Kaufman. The answer to this question is also a “22-second course…
Imagine we get a “brand-spanking-new puppy from the pet shop,” Peter D. Kaufman suggests. What is our goal bringing this puppy into our home?…
Peter D. Kaufman doesn’t shy away from the big questions. Yesterday we examined his question: Is there a simple two-word description that accurately describes how…
Let’s start the week with an easy, straight-forward question… Is there a simple two-word description that accurately describes how everything in the world works?…
The power of compound interest is not limited to financial matters. The compound effect is present everywhere in our lives. 1: Small behavior changes…
1: Let’s say we have a friend, Rose. Upon graduating from college and getting her first job, Rose starts socking away $250 a month into…
“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world,” Albert Einstein once remarked. “He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn’t, pays it.”…
It’s the littlest decisions that shape our lives. Imagine two friends: Brad and Charlie. They live in the same neighborhood. They have similar sensibilities. They…
Imagine you are given a choice. Someone will give you $3 Million. Cash. Or, you can elect to receive a “magic penny” which doubles…
Imagine we are someone who goes to the gym every day. We are consistent about it. Every day of every week or every month…
1: Over the last several days we’ve examined the components of philosopher Brian Johnson’s self-mastery formula. Self-Mastery = Willpower + Habits + Algorithms. Our goal…
1: Philosopher Brian Johnson tells us there are three steps on our path to self-mastery. Self-Mastery = Willpower + Habits + Algorithms. We aim to…
“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits, and their habits decide their future,” says F.M. Alexander. One of my all-time favorite…
Turns out it’s not that complicated, philosopher Brian Johnson tells us. Self-Mastery = Willpower + Habits + Algorithms. Put another way, we use “our…
It had been a long day capped off by a late flight. The crowded plane was finally on the ground and the passengers were…
Cy’s team was in revolt. They had just learned that they were to move their offices for the fifth time in one year. They…
Yesterday, we looked at the difference between confidence and ego. Confidence is believing in ourselves and our capabilities. Confidence is a very good thing.…
Confidence is a good thing. Confidence involves believing in ourselves and having faith in our abilities. So, ego is a good thing, right? Not…
The patient was furious. So was Stephanie. She stormed into her supervisor’s office and slammed the door, Cy Wakeman writes in her book No Ego:…
News flash: Life is busy. Of course, it is. There’s always more to do. More emails to answer. More texts needing a reply. More…
It starts with mindset. We begin by saying “prepare to be amazed.” Next, we focus our attention on listening fully to the other person. …
Today we look at specific strategies to create deeper, richer conversations in our lives. “Strategies” sounds official. Scientific. It’s actually easier than that. What…
It’s easy to get lost in our own conclusions. The other person? They’ve got it wrong. How frustrating! Instead, what if we prime ourselves…
“Most of us don’t listen with the intent to understand. We listen with the intent to reply,” Stephen Covey tells us. There is a…
100 years. 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of my grandfather founding our predecessor firm. What can we do to build and sustain an organization…
To build a business that succeeds over the long-term, Fred Kofman suggests we focus on three separate but complementary areas: the impersonal “It” (strong…
Yesterday we explored several elements of Fred Kofman’s Conscious Business model which maps onto Ken Wilber’s Integral, four-quadrant framework which analyzes reality according to…
To create an enduring, successful organization, we are wise to understand the different dimensions of business, writes Fred Kofman in his book Conscious Business. The…
“Some people say work is hell,” writes Fred Kofman in his brilliant book Conscious Business: How to Build Value through Values. “I claim that work…
It was 2002. Tom Werner and his partners had just purchased the Boston Red Sox. “This was the oldest club in the majors, and…
Yes. It’s been a life-saver, certainly a business-saver for many of us over the past year as we’ve adapted and learned to communicate virtually.…
In the office of Dr. Robert Maloney is a basket containing hundreds of pairs of discarded eyeglasses. A sign with the word “See” is…
Peter Guber had just been named the head of Columbia Pictures. It was an exciting day. Or, was it? Peter who was only a couple…
Ever been in the audience where the speaker has lost their audience? And, just keeps going with the prepared remarks? How does it feel?…
“Distance inevitably puts me at a disadvantage. That’s why, when it really matters, I walk, drive, or fly, if necessary, to be in the…
Yesterday we explored the idea when attempting to persuade another human being, we are wise to begin with connection and relationship rather than the…
“I’ve got nothing to lose,” said the attendee at one of Stephen Covey’s workshops. The stakes were high. “All of my eggs were in…
Stephen Covey’s concept of empathic listening involves many of the topics we’ve explored the past several weeks. We began with Brene Brown’s insight that…
“If I were to summarize in one sentence the single most important principle I have learned in the field of interpersonal relations, it would…
We typically seek first to be understood. We’re either speaking or preparing to speak. When we listen, Stephen Covey observes, it is often with…
So far this week we’ve explored the benefits of empathy as well as the different types. Today, we look at specific strategies to put…
Empathy is a magic ingredient. Add it, and everyone and everything improves. The research shows patients are more like to follow their doctor’s recommendations…
What is the difference between empathy and sympathy? Professor Brené Brown tells us it is the difference between “feeling for” and “feeling with.” Feeling…
Many of us focus on our weaknesses. We focus on improving in areas where we don’t currently excel. PCI is a strengths-based company. We…
Imagine we are at work. First thing in the morning, we get an email from our boss with a pressing assignment that must be…
“I won’t let fear of a possible ‘no’ interfere with my telling,” writes Peter Guber in his terrific book Tell to Win about how…
If we tell a story we don’t believe in, our audience will sense it immediately. Like intention, authenticity and energy can’t be faked. This…
If we want to “tell to win,” we must turn our audience into active participants, not just passengers. This was the lesson we looked…
Powerpoint. How do we feel when someone’s presentation consists of them reading their Powerpoint slides? Bored to tears. “You could have mailed it to…
Movie producer Peter Guber paused for a moment outside the closed door of Warner Bros. CEO Terry Semel’s office. Peter was ready to start…
“Our success or failure is determined by our level of energy. Much more than our creativity, our level of energy inspires the people around…
At PCI, do we publish publications? Or, do we inspire dreams and transform lives? Both, actually. PCI turns 100 this year and this week we…
Last Monday, we celebrated the birthday of one of my favorite Americans, Martin Luther King, Jr. Fifty years later, his “I have a dream speech”…
There’s an expression I like: the day you stop learning is the day you start dying. That can happen when we are 17. Or…
Many organizations look like this. There is a CEO at the very top, then as we move down the triangle, there are vice presidents…
100 years ago, my grandfather Rocky Clancy founded the Rockwell F. Clancy Company, our predecessor company. Rocky was born in 1893 and grew up…
Ever been in the audience where the speaker has lost their audience? And, just keeps going with the prepared remarks? How does it feel?…
1: As a kid growing up, what were the best toys? Someone else’s toys! 2: Who’s happier? Lottery winners or paraplegics? Trick question. The answer is…
“Envy is the ulcer of the soul,” Socrates tells us. Today we continue our exploration of the link between gratitude and happiness and some…
This week we are exploring the relationship between happiness and gratitude. We all look to the future and envision how we’d like our lives…
The balance sheet is a key component of any business. We also have a personal balance sheet. Yes, this includes our cash in the…
What if we learned there was a brand new medicine that would make us happier. It would improve our romantic relationships as well as…
The short answer? Yes. One famous longitudinal study looked at the health and wellbeing of a group of Harvard students who were examined and tested while…
“Study hard so that you’ll get good grades. Get good grades so you can get into a good college. Get into a good college…
The artist enters her studio at the same time each morning. Five days a week. Smelling the paint, she takes her seat at the…
An Olympic gold medalist showed up at the dojo excited to learn aikido, George Leonard shares in his terrific book The Way of Aikido. …
We’re starting this week by answering a few questions about the posts I did on annual goal setting (here, here, here, here, and here!). …
“Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, “What’s in it for me?” – Brian Tracy
At his dojo, George Leonard would sometimes have his students practice a certain aikido technique. Then, he would have them meditate for a few…
“How strange it is that such a simple act – sitting motionless, calming the mind, and letting the heart turn toward realms beyond the…
One week ago, rioters violently stormed the US Capitol in an effort to disrupt the process of democracy at work. This week I shared…
During World War II as a fighter pilot in the southwest Pacific theater in the Philippines, George Leonard flew 21 low-to-the-ground strafing missions in…
George Leonard couldn’t believe it. His agent was on the phone. The publisher of his next book was turning it down. Worse, they were…
“Very little is needed to make a happy life. It is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” -Marcus Aurelius
The numbers aren’t good. In his book The Miracle Morning, Hal Elrod shares 95% of New Year’s resolutions fail. Ouch. This week we’ve been…
How do we “develop a real plan for a better life?” Trent Hamm tells us we start by selecting the areas of our lives…
This week we are exploring a goal-setting methodology from Trent Hamm called “Developing a Real Plan for a Better Life.” Yesterday, we looked at…
That’s the opportunity. How? By setting powerful 2021 goals and then achieving those goals through a simple process designed to optimize follow-through. Over the…
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion…
“If you don’t know where you are going, you might not like were you end up,” David Bach tells us. The calendar has flipped…
I currently have the privilege of participating in the Stagen Leadership Academy’s Advanced Leadership Program. The name of the program is “The Dragon’s Gap”…
In his book Conscious Business, Fred Kofman explains there are two requirements to answer the question above: 1: Demonstrate the necessary cognitive and technical…
“I love molecules,” explains Marcus. “You apply a certain amount of heat and a certain amount of pressure and you know exactly what is…
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” -Abraham Lincoln
In Jim Collins’ classic book Good to Great he identifies a group of average companies that make a quantum leap and become extraordinary. These eleven…
Our theme for 2020 at PCI is Trust: the one thing that changes everything. Today, we’re going to look at an additional strategy to…
This year as an organization, we have been ferreting out and eliminating practices and behaviors based on negative assumptions or which create first-and second-class…
“There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether…
As leaders, what assumptions do we hold about people? Do we believe people are lazy? That they lack integrity and don’t care? Or, do we believe…
“Twelve ministers and theologians of all faiths and twelve psychiatrists of all faiths had convened for a two-day off-the-record seminar on the one-word theme…
If there were any. “Many otherwise able people are disqualified to lead because they cannot work with and through the half-people who are all…
What is the trouble with coercive power? It only strengthens resistance, Robert Greenleaf writes in The Servant as Leader. “And, if successful, its controlling…
We previously looked at the importance of learning to withdraw periodically so we can show up at our best. Today we look at a…
“Stress is a condition of most of modern life,” Robert Greenleaf writes in The Servant as Leader. This reality is especially true for us as…
“There are two ways to do great mathematics. The first is to be smarter than everybody else. The second way is to be stupider…
It isn’t possible, Robert E. Quinn writes in The Deep Change Field Guide. We cannot “teach” someone how to be a leader. Except by…
Is organizational conflict a good thing? It depends, Robert E. Quinn tells us in his brilliant book on leadership, The Deep Change Field Guide.…
So, when does communication actually occur? Many of us assume communication happens when we speak. For important conversations, we often spend time preparing so…
We are about to enter a confrontation. What is our mindset? Is our basic attitude of one seeking to understand? A new leader had recently…
“A Winner’s Blueprint for Achievement: BELIEVE while others are doubting. PLAN while others are playing. STUDY while others are sleeping. DECIDE while others are…
“Ideas are worthless. Execution is everything.” So says Scott Adams. Mike Tyson has his own perspective: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched…
Reuters was making a profit in every country in the world. Except one. Brazil. Tom, a young lawyer at Reuters. was offered the position…
Luis’ career had been a series of triumphs. After completing a five-year engineering program in four years, he experienced immediate success in his new…
“Success means never letting the competition define you. Instead, you have to define yourself based on a point of view you care deeply about.”…
This week we are exploring the power to initiate deep change as outlined by Robert E. Quinn in his terrific book The Deep Change…
It was 1999. I was flipping through Fortune magazine’s annual 100 Best Places to Work edition. Amongst the top 10 were many companies I was familiar with…
We are looking this week at the key lessons and learnings from The Servant as Leader, Robert Greenleaf’s brilliant book on leadership. The last several…
Foresight, or prescience, is a better than average guess about what is going to happen in the future. Developing this ability is key to becoming…
How do we become better leaders? How do we become better servant leaders? Specifically. What skills do we need to develop? What do we…
“Most of us move about with very narrow perception, sight, sound, smell, tactile and we miss most of the grandeur that is in the…
As servant leaders, what is the relationship between taking action and building trust? This week we are looking at key learnings from Robert Greenleaf’s…
“Who is responsible for the mediocre performance of so many of our institutions?” Robert Greenleaf asks in The Servant as Leader. His answer is surprising.…
“If you shift your focus from oneself to others, and think more about others’ well-being and welfare, it has an immediate liberating effect.” -Dali Lama
It was the middle of the night. Outside, the rain pelted against the windows. An elderly man and his wife entered a hotel in…
This week we’ve been exploring how to architect what philosopher Brian Johnson calls “masterpiece days.” We think of our day like a canvas. We…
Attention Management is the first module in the Stagen Leadership Academy’s brilliant, impactful year-long Integral Leadership Program (ILP) By being more proactive about managing…
In our quest to create what philosopher Brian Johnson calls masterpiece days, so far this week we’ve looked of two of Brian’s “Big 3:”…
Genius work or mediocre work? We decide. It starts, according to philosopher Brian Johnson, with asking: Who am I at my absolute best? What’s…
“When you first propose change people tell you it’s a bad idea. During the process of change, it’s hell. After you’ve made the change…
What game are we playing? Are we going through the motions or are we on the path to mastery? Philosopher Brian Johnson asks. Are we…
Yesterday we looked at the role failure plays in bringing about deep change. Failure drops us into a world of personal chaos. Yet it…
“I could no longer say that I was my job, because I had none. I couldn’t rely on my wealth to create a sense…
Business schools have a problem, say two business school professors. “Detached, third person leadership, no matter how well it follows the sage advice of…
Yesterday, we looked at how deep change starts with self-change. To be a leader is to accept we must continually adapt and evolve. The…
Erin, an eight-year-old girl, has no interest in her homework. Her mother insists she do her homework and spends hours working with her, writes…
Learning to become a great storyteller translates into business success. Great stories share common elements: challenge, struggle, and resolution. And the story’s hero is…
As a walk-on fullback at the University of Maryland, Kevin Plank was annoyed. Every time he worked up a sweat, his cotton workout clothes…
Bill Haber was one of the most powerful talent agents in the world. Then, one day he quit the powerhouse Creative Artist Agency which…
It’s 1985. The Los Angeles Lakers have just won game five of the NBA Finals to take a 3-2 series lead against the uber-talented…
Becoming a great storyteller is a key skill to succeed in business. And in life. Storytelling is a skill we can get better…
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” -Mark Twain
Our goal? To create “masterpiece days.” This week we’ve looked at the importance of our morning and evening routines, what philosopher Brian Johnson calls…
This week we are looking at how to create what philosopher Brian Johnson calls “masterpiece days.” So far we’ve looked at the connection between…
If our goal is to create a masterpiece day, where do we start? According to philosopher Brian Johnson, we begin with our nighttime practices and…
This week we are exploring philosopher Brian Johnson’s idea of creating masterpiece days. Brian suggests we focus on the beginning and end of our…
What makes for a great life? According to philosopher Brian Johnson, a great life is simply a procession of great days. Masterpiece days, he…
Jeff Liker is considered one of the leading experts on how work gets done at Toyota. Over the years, thousands of companies have attempted…
This week we’ve been looking at the perils of slow death which result when the situation calls for us to adapt. If we don’t,…
We don’t stay the same. People and organizations are either getting better or getting worse. “We tend to think of an organization as…
Some years back there was a problem at one of the military academies. Some of the students were cheating on their exams. The senior…
The executives at General Motors had had enough. It was 1982. General Motors’ Fremont auto assembly plant was in crisis. The plant ranked at the bottom…
“When I think about creating abundance, it’s not about creating a life of luxury for everybody on this planet; it’s about creating a life…
At first, it felt like a homecoming. It was 1989. Sony had just purchased Columbia Picture and hired Peter Guber as CEO. Earlier in…
“Hello, Peter, this is Bill.” Presidential candidate Bill Clinton was calling Peter Guber, CEO of Sony Pictures. It was early 1992. Bill was being…
One day early in his career, Peter Guber, the young studio head at Columbia Pictures, was talking with Jack Warner, the legendary founder and…
It was opening night. There was a line out the door of the restaurant as people clamored to get inside. The famous restaurateur Wolfgang…
One night, Hollywood mogul Peter Guber stopped by the Border Grill in Los Angeles. What happened next surprised him. First, he took a bite…
Academy Award winning producer Peter Guber was convinced Jack Nicholson was perfect to play the Joker in the original Batman movie. Peter had been…
It’s the early 1990s. Dr. Robert Maloney, UCLA professor of ophthalmology, had just done the first LASIK surgery in western North America as part…
Imagine for a moment you are an NBA coach. Playing on your home court, your team has just won game five of the NBA…
“I don’t do companies that don’t have a story because if they don’t have a story, they don’t have a business,” says Lynda Resnick who…
What is the #1 reason executive candidates fail to win over prospective employers during job interviews? Lack of preparation. What?!? That came as surprise…
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin
Creating masterpiece days is how we operationalize our highest goal of flourishing, Brian Johnson shares in his year-long Optimize Mastery course. In future posts…
This week we are exploring what it means to be heroic. This is the key learning from Brian Johnson’s year-long Optimize Mastery class. Brian…
What is the one question to ask to help us to turn things around? According to Brian Johnson, this question is our secret weapon. …
Yesterday we looked at heroic stamina: Instead of giving in, we get more committed. We embody heroic presence: We show up with intensity. We practice the…
When we feel our worst… When things are not going our way… When life seems too much… Instead of giving in…, We get more…
Think about last five people you interviewed for a job, Laszlo Bock suggests in his terrific book Work Rules!, about his time as Chief…
The first 10 seconds of a job interview predict the outcome. What?!? In his book Work Rules!, longtime Google executive Laszlo Bock shares the…
Google’s hiring philosophy begins with this simple but powerful insight: the best talent is not looking for a job. The odds of hiring a…
If we want to transform our teams or our organizations, improving our hiring practices is the single best way to do it, writes longtime…
“It’s not the will to win that matters – everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” -Paul (“Bear”) Bryant
There are two strategies to assemble phenomenal talent in our organizations writes longtime Google Chief People Operations Officer Laszlo Bock: 1: Find a way…
On the side of a bus is a big advertisement emblazoned with the word “Freedom!” It’s an ad for a local casino. Society is…
Yesterday, we explored the idea of human flourishing by living with virtue. Today we are going to take a deeper look into the concept…
Turns out ancient wisdom and practical science are more alike than we might realize. Both Aristotle and Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, agree…
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead teach them…
“Be proactive” is habit number one of Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Brian Johnson takes it one step further. According to…
Imagine… the call from the doctor that no one wants. A serious illness. The diagnosis is not promising. Yesterday, we explored the Drama Triangle…
What is the difference between surviving and thriving? David Emerald, author of The Power of Ted, points out that the default orientation of humanity…
Jim Carrey was struggling. It was 1985. Three years earlier he had made the trek from his home in Canada to Los Angeles. His career…
A challenge or obstacle appears. We have a choice, writes Mark Samuel and Sophie Chiche in their terrific little book, The Power of Personal Accountability.…
“People don’t understand that when I grew up, I was never the most talented. I was never the biggest. I was never the fastest.…
“Between stimulus and response there is a space,” writes Nazi Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl. “In that space is our power to choose our response.…
“Close your eyes, I’m going to tell you a story about a foreign country,” were the first words out of Ken Lombard’s mouth. In…
Yesterday we examined the story the adventurer Richard Bangs told the rowdy group to get their attention about the dangers in the river rapids…
Way down in the Grand Canyon, Peter Guber was hosting a five-day river rafting trip for ten friends on the ever-thrilling Colorado River, a.k.a…
Yesterday, we explored the idea that storytelling is a key driver of business success because it allows us to reach people’s hearts as well…
Life is about big moments and this was one of them. Peter Guber had flown to Las Vegas to pitch Oscar Goodman, the city’s…
After her father spent eight days at a Sharp HealthCare hospital in San Diego, Sandra Rhodes was profoundly grateful to the doctors and nurses who…
For two groups of lifeguards at a community center in the Midwest, the answer was, a resounding “yes,” according to a study conducted by…
It depends, writes Professor Amy Wrzesniewski of Yale University. It depends on how they see their work. Turns out we have a choice. Do we…
“Follow your passion” is the line most people remember from Steve Jobs famous commencement speech at Stanford University. The research says Steve got it…
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. This week we are exploring the power of mission…
This week we’ve been looking at relationships: how the strength of our relationships is the number one driver of happiness and how to create…
That’s the message too often we get when we interact with most organizations. We feel like a number. Not a person. It’s not…
Why do some relationships endure while others crumble? Why does intimacy develop between some partners and not others? This week we are exploring how to…
What is it about certain moments that deepen our ties to others and how do we create more of them? Those are amongst the questions…
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period,” says Dr. Robert Waldinger,…
Early in his tenure at Google, longtime Chief People Officer Laszlo Bock recounts in his book Work Rules!, he wrote an email to his…
I was having lunch with a friend. “So what does it really mean to be best place to work? He asked me. “Do you…
When Google went public in August of 2004, Google co-founder Sergey Brin wrote a letter in the prospectus for potential investors: “Our employees, who have…
In his book, Work Rules! Laszlo Bock, Google’s longtime head of People Operations, lists the decisions managers at Google cannot make unilaterally: Whom to…
“Each man has only one genuine vocation – to find himself… His task is to discover his own destiny and live it out wholly…
In his book Work Rules!, Google’s Chief People Officer for ten years Laszlo Bock shares information about two Nike t-shirt factories in Mexico. The first…
This week we’ve been looking at different ways to self-coach ourselves to be more intentional and more present in our lives. We started with the…
How can we remember to prime ourselves to be more present throughout our day? Yesterday we looked at one strategy: pay attention to beginning…
Despite our best efforts to plan and prepare, much of what happens is not in our control. Life comes at us hard. From all directions. …
Are our days an endless parade of zoom calls, emails, and follow up’s? There is a better way, says Dr. Daniel Friedland, author of…
“You already have permission. Just saying. You have permission to create, to speak up, and stand up. You have permission to be generous, to…
We recently looked at what makes great teams great. Great teams are committed. Commitment is created by starting with purpose. Which begins with intention. Not expectation. “Inside…
That’s one of the more surprising facts Shawn Achor shares in his terrific book on positive psychology, The Happiness Advantage. Knowing the right thing…
“You don’t understand, I want to run a marathon in a month…” said one of Shawn Achor’s clients. This week we are looking at…
During the construction of St. Paul’s cathedral in London, British architect Sir Christopher Wren asked three men what they were doing. The first replied, “I am…
Turns out the answer to this question is a tremendous predictor of overall success. Why? This week we’ve been looking at some of the…
“What I have achieved by industry and practice, anyone else with tolerable natural gift and ability can also achieve.”― Johann Sebastian Bach
I love this story… It’s the early 1900’s and two shoe salesmen are sent to an undeveloped country to assess the opportunity. One sends a…
Our theme this year at PCI is around building TRUST. Let’s take a step back and consider… why? Why trust? In service of what?…
Yesterday we explored Ichak Adizes’ idea around the importance of Mutual Trust and Respect. When lacking, all available organizational energy is spent dealing with internal…
The brilliant management thinker Ichak Adizes tells us: “Energy is fixed and predictably allocated.” Energy flows internally first. Whatever remains is available to pursue…
We want people to trust us. Stephen Covey tells us trustworthiness is a factor of character and competence. There is a sure-fire way to increase our…
“Trust is the one thing that changes everything,” writes Stephen M. R. Covey in his terrific book The Speed of Trust. Our theme this year…
In his book The Way of Aikido, George Leonard shares the story of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. George tells us early in FDR’s life he…
Before we enter the training mat, we briefly center ourselves. Our feet are firmly connected to the ground. We are aware of the power that…
When confronted by an attacker, the aikidoist doesn’t strike, push back, or dodge. This week we are exploring some of the ideas from George…
Is being powerful about having power over others? Hold that thought, writes George Leonard’s in The Way of Aikido. He defines power as our ability to…
Samurai Chant: “Expect nothing. Be ready for anything.” This week we are going to explore some of the ideas in The Way of Aikido…
“There are two ways to live life — one as though nothing is a miracle, the other as if everything is a miracle.” -Albert…
More than a decade ago, Dr. Daniel Friedland shares in Leading Well from Within, he and his then four-year old son Dylan were walking…
This week we are exploring the concept of self-coaching and then teaching others to self-coach themselves – ideas I’ve been exploring with my coach,…
Yesterday we looked at what makes a great coach great. A related question: what makes a great team great? According to Dr. Daniel Friedland,…
So, what makes a great coach great? This week we are looking at the idea of self-coaching and then teaching others to self-coach themselves. …
So, what exactly is leadership anyway? Let’s agree to skip the boring text book definitions. In one ear, out the other… Not management. Not…
The answer is neither, according to the research of Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert. In his popular TED talk, Dan tells us that if it happened over…
When faced with adversity, we can: 1. Get stuck (scientific term…) and circle around where we currently are 2. Make it Worse (we’ve all…
In his book The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor shares the research of Daniel Khaneman that shows us we don’t always act in rational, logical ways. …
One of the key learnings from the Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor’s terrific book on positive psychology, involves the dual nature of the brain. The…
What’s more important? What we do each day? Or, how we think about what we do each day? The research is clear. How we…
Getting up an hour earlier will change your life, says Hal Elrod, author of The Miracle Morning. That’s been my experience. No BS. Big thank you,…
So far this week we’ve covered getting up an hour earlier to experience a “Miracle Morning.” Terrific. That’s step #1. But – will…
Yesterday we talked about step one to living our new, more intentional life: get up an hour earlier to create a “Miracle Morning,” the…
For the first twenty-plus years of my adult life, my morning routine revolved around: what is the absolute last possible minute I can set…
The numbers aren’t great. Obesity is a national epidemic. Rates of depression are at an all-time high. More than 50 percent of marriages end…
I lost my cool yesterday. True story. Those who know me know that isn’t my “go to.” Being overtired plus my perception of a lack…
Yesterday we looked at the benefits of having better conversations. Sounds great. But how do we do that? How can we flip a negative conversation…
“We live in the world our conversations create,” writes David Cooperrider, one of the creators of the Appreciative Inquiry framework. So, does living a…
Last week RiseWithDrew addressed a lot of theory. Interesting, powerful, thought-provoking theory! But theory, nonetheless. This week we’re looking at putting some of the…
Three weeks ago, I had the privilege of spending an hour on a Zoom call with seven African American leaders at PCI. The meeting…
In business and in life, we want things to run smoothly. But, should this be our primary driver? This week we are looking at some…
For years, I heard people I respect admire talk about the power of meditation. Occasionally, I would try it out, but it never stuck. …
I’m a goal-setter. I like setting goals. Part of my identity is about setting and achieving goals. I like structure. A framework is a…
“Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbour; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one…
So far this week we’ve covered two high trust behaviors from Stephen M.R. Covey’s powerful book The Speed of Trust: Listen First and Make…
Of all Steven R. Covey’s powerful ideas and frameworks (I am a HUGE Steven Covey fan!!), my absolute favorite is the Circle of Influence…
Yesterday we talked about listening first, one of the high trust behaviors outlined in Stephen M.R. Covey’s terrific book, The Speed of Trust. Twice I’ve…
We all want high trust relationships. Our lives are so much better when we are surrounded by people who trust us and we trust…
Each week we are doing a deep dive into a different topic and this week we’ve been looking at some of the key takeaways…
This week we are looking at insights from Shawn Achor’s terrific book on positive psychology, The Happiness Advantage. Key takeaway: Happiness is not a…
So far this week, we’ve learned a couple of key lessons from Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage. First, happiness is more than a feeling;…
Yesterday, we covered the main idea from Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage: that being happy is an indispensable ingredient of our success. The…
This week we are going to be looking at some of the insights from The Happiness Advantage written by Shawn Achor. Each year at PCI…
One of the central ideas of Stephen M. L. Covey’s book The Speed of Trust is that to build trust, we must be persons…
In Darren Hardy’s terrific book The Compound Effect, he shares a story about a time when as a young man he attended a seminar…
The late great David Foster Wallace shared a story of two young fish who were swimming along who happen to meet an older fish…
In Stephen Covey’s book The Speed of Trust, he recounts something a client once told him: “Look Stephen, you need to understand something. Either…
This week we are going to be looking at some of the key lessons from Stephen M. R. Covey’s wonderful book The Speed of Trust. Our…
It’s the end of week one of #LeadWithDrew. Each week my plan is to do a deep dive into a different topic and this…
Aristotle tells us that to flourish as human beings we need targets. We need goals. This week we’re reviewing some of the key lessons…
Are we approaching life with zest or avoiding it? Is our real goal hoping to avoid challenge and failure? Put another way: do we…
Yesterday, we talked about Rule #1 from Brian Johnson’s Optimize Program: Expect challenges. Brian tells us that when life knocks us down, our goal…
“Think of many things. Do one.” -Portuguese proverb offers a simple recipe for success [H/T James Clear]